Antiguan Experience

[njaloha]

RCCL, NCL and Celebrity all have this tour listed in their shore excursions. Has anybody been on this tour and, if so, what's it like? Was the food good? Worth the $$? Does anybody book tours through the ship? Where are the reviews? :rolleyes:

[debandbruce]

I would also like to know. I hate that we have to ask port specific request on this board as it seems people rarely answer.

[caribbeanadventure13]

I went on this tour in november and loved it! My favorite day of the cruise :). We had a great tour guide named Jackie who was hilarious and told some really entertaining stories while we were on the bus going from place to place. The beach we went to was gorgeous and our tour group was the only people there. The food was pretty good, too. I'll post some pictures of the tour in a minute.

[debandbruce]

thank you for your reply, this tour sounds like fun. There is the catamaran with lobster lunch that interests us too so just trying to decide which one all of us would prefer.

[caribbeanadventure13]

My photos aren't uploading. :( If I can get them to upload later I will.

[njaloha]

I went on this tour in november and loved it! My favorite day of the cruise :). We had a great tour guide named Jackie who was hilarious and told some really entertaining stories while we were on the bus going from place to place. The beach we went to was gorgeous and our tour group was the only people there. The food was pretty good, too. I'll post some pictures of the tour in a minute.

 

Thanks, can't wait to see the pictures.

 

Furthermore, I did start this thread on the Celebrity Forum since the tour is specific to Celebrity (as well as RC and NCL) and I'll be sailing next month. I did get some positive feedback on the tour.

[njaloha]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1552317

Link for the other thread I started on this topic which has some responses but fell deep into the third page of the forum.

[Host Kewlguy]

I would also like to know. I hate that we have to ask port specific request on this board as it seems people rarely answer.

 

This board, as well as many others in the port of call section are very active and full of information. I use the search feature very often to find the information I'm looking for.

[caribbeanadventure13]

Here are some of the photos from the tour. Enjoy! :)

[debandbruce]

thank you for the photos, we are leaning towards this tour over others. I use the search all the time but do not always get the answers I need based on the cruise line we will be going on.

[njaloha]

Here are some of the photos from the tour. Enjoy! :)

 

thank you.

[beachnative]

We took this tour last month (January) and LOVED it. This is a "heart" and "culture" tour. It is not the typical cruise excursion. It is a very sweet visit in the home of a lovely lady followed by a beach lunch prepared by locals. We ate at Fryes Beach which overlooks Montserrat. The view across the water to Montseratt was breathtaking. Lunch was simple but wonderful and was one of the most delightful, gentle, touching lunches that I have had anywhere.

 

A former school teacher recited some of her poetry and then sang of Antigua and, while she sang, Antigua became one of my favorite places.

 

Jackie was our guide and one would have thought we had Diana Ross with us...she looks like her and sings like her. After lunch she had us up on our feet dancing. There is never a dull moment with Jackie as your guide. She awarded one of her paintings to best dancer...her painting has become one of our favorite originals...tying a very expensive oil by an outstanding artist.

 

If you want something a little different, book this tour!!!!! If you are willing, Antigua will steal your heart with this tour.

[njaloha]

Thanks Beachnative,

We booked this last week and will be there in February! Your description helped solidify the fact that we made the right decision. Really excited now.

Aloha!

[hcat]

we also hope to book this tour & appreciate the comments & photos..It sounds unusual and fun, but i have a few more questions, If anyone can answer I'd appreciate it....

 

what kind of vehicle is used? A/C or not?

how many people were in your group?

 

what gardens does it go to?

what fishing villages?

how long at the Pineapple farm?

 

Does it always go to Fryes beach? Some said Valley Chruch beach?

how much time is allowed to swim at the beach?

are there changing facilites/bathroom at the beach?

 

what is served for lunch--DH is allergic to most seafood esp. lobster so I am hoping there is a meat offering...

[njaloha]

we also hope to book this tour & appreciate the comments & photos..It sounds unusual and fun, but i have a few more questions, If anyone can answer I'd appreciate it....

 

what kind of vehicle is used? A/C or not? Air conditioned mini-bus with 2 seats aisle 1 seat

how many people were in your group?25 per bus 2 buses

 

what gardens does it go to? It goes to a local woman's house which is filled FILLED with artifacts and pictures and so much stuff it's hard to move around. Too much to look at. No A/C here. She serves punch which we drank as we walked around. A small patio in back in the shade with a few small chairs to sit on. A bird in a cage, and a very short path through a rough garden. incredible valley views but not worth the trip in my opinion.

what fishing villages? No fishing village on our tour.

how long at the Pineapple farm? This is a very small farm. We never got off the bus. The tour guide said if we wanted to get off the bus we wouldn't get good seats at the beach. We saw the pineapple from the bus. We were there 5 minutes. We doubled back a short distance the way we came to a turn off to the beach.

 

Does it always go to Fryes beach? Some said Valley Chruch beach? I just looked at the Google Map of the island and I honestly can't tell which beach we were on. We were definitely south of St. John toward Fryes and VC Bays but the map doesn't quite fit what it looked like. We drove down a short dirt road to an area with a changing room/bathroom facility and dirt parking lot a good distance from the beach (50 yards). The temporary location of the lunch area was situated right on the beach with a tarp/tent over a few tables with folding chairs to sit on. A stand of trees just to the right as you face the beach covered a setup of chairs. We were the earlier tour so we were there first and swam while lunch was "prepared". From what I could tell it had been cooked elsewhere and just needed to be set up. We were allowed to swim for about 20 minutes but once the lunch and "story telling" was over, we had to leave because the afternoon tour arrived to listen to the stories and then ate lunch after we left.

how much time is allowed to swim at the beach? 20 minutes tops. It was hot in February. two people in our group decided not to stay because it was too hot. The tables and chairs were under a tent for shade.

are there changing facilites/bathroom at the beach? Yes but farther than I would have liked. A good 50-75 yards away.

 

what is served for lunch--DH is allergic to most seafood esp. lobster so I am hoping there is a meat offering Chicken, weird rice, small amount of pineapple, so unremarkeable that I've forgotten, oh, yeah, some weird fish thing, locally typical island food. ...

 

Hi hcat, I answered your questions in the quote above.

I have pictures. I'll try to post them.

Bottom line, the beach was breathtakingly beautiful. They charged for lounge chairs but we just dumped our stuff by a chair at the lunch table and swam for a little while. The lunch was iffy. I get a little nervous eating at places like this because the same FDA standards in place here don't exist there; however, if they make passengers sick they're out of business.

 

The other bummer about the tour is that a local woman pounced on us right off the bat and tried to get us to buy stuff that she claimed she and her daughters made. When I tried to talk her price down, she pouted and said please this is the only job she has so I ended up buying 3 necklaces for $40.

 

Since we have never been to Antigua, we felt the trip was worth it. Take it for what it is. I really disliked the stop at the local woman's house. It was weird. I felt like I was in a horder's house.

 

Again, the beach was unbelievable. I've been to Hawaii, and this beach rivaled any I've been at in Hawaii. Wish I knew which beach it was.

 

We had to walk a good distance to the bus which was parked in a lot outside the dock security gate. When the tour ended we were dropped off at the top of the area with the shops and we had to walk a long way back to the ship. I guess this is their way of making sure passengers have easy access to shopping on the way back to the ship. I thought we'd be dropped off closer to the ship but I can see by the map that the roads don't go any closer than where we were dropped off.

 

I enjoyed the tour. the guide was funny and the people on the tour were funny too.

[njaloha]

Here are two pictures in panoramic mode of the beach, the tent and the surrounding area.

[njaloha]

A picture of the view from the front of the woman's house.

[njaloha]

Panorama of beach

[hcat]

Thank you so much for the effort you have put into sharing this helpful info--I really appreciate it. You have given details to help us in our decision...

 

We enjoyed our excursion to Dickinson Beach very much & were going to book this trip as a means to visit Valley Church Beach on a cruise line excursion...

 

seems we shoud re-think this-- as nice as the beach looks, the rest of the trip may be too hot for us...esp. if the lady's home is not A/C..and not really much else on the tour...

 

maybe we'll repeat the Dickinson beach trip or try to get to Valley Church beach on our own...

Thanks again...

[njaloha]

Glad I could be of assistance, hcat.

To anyone else reading this review of the Antiguan Experience Tour, the gentleman who sang for us was amazing. And I would have preferred more time at the beach and zero time at the woman's home and the pineapple farm.

[hcat]

we decided to have lunch near the port and do some shopping.. more time than if we took a tour. If we go to the beach it'll be on our own.

 

can you rec. a nice, casual lunch place near the pier?

[dinojude]

Hi hcat, I answered your questions in the quote above.

I have pictures. I'll try to post them.

Bottom line, the beach was breathtakingly beautiful. They charged for lounge chairs but we just dumped our stuff by a chair at the lunch table and swam for a little while. The lunch was iffy. I get a little nervous eating at places like this because the same FDA standards in place here don't exist there; however, if they make passengers sick they're out of business.

 

The other bummer about the tour is that a local woman pounced on us right off the bat and tried to get us to buy stuff that she claimed she and her daughters made. When I tried to talk her price down, she pouted and said please this is the only job she has so I ended up buying 3 necklaces for $40.

 

Since we have never been to Antigua, we felt the trip was worth it. Take it for what it is. I really disliked the stop at the local woman's house. It was weird. I felt like I was in a horder's house.

 

Again, the beach was unbelievable. I've been to Hawaii, and this beach rivaled any I've been at in Hawaii. Wish I knew which beach it was.

 

We had to walk a good distance to the bus which was parked in a lot outside the dock security gate. When the tour ended we were dropped off at the top of the area with the shops and we had to walk a long way back to the ship. I guess this is their way of making sure passengers have easy access to shopping on the way back to the ship. I thought we'd be dropped off closer to the ship but I can see by the map that the roads don't go any closer than where we were dropped off.

 

I enjoyed the tour. the guide was funny and the people on the tour were funny too.

 

MY DH can't walk long distances -- are all the taxis and tours a good distance outside the dock security gate?

[dinojude]

MY DH can't walk long distances -- are all the taxis and tours a good distance outside the dock security gate?

[debandbruce]

No it is not a very long walk at all to find a taxi in Antigua. It isn't one of those incredibly long piers. We worked out our own tour at a great price so not sure how far away the tour buses are but I would say not far. If your looking for a great cab driver who will bend over backwards for you look for a lady named Joyce, she was great. Love Antigua just returned from our second trip there in 7 months.

[njaloha]

MY DH can't walk long distances -- are all the taxis and tours a good distance outside the dock security gate?

 

As a point of reference, Silhouette docked on the longer of the two piers when we were there and we had to walk about 30 yards to the bus; about 25 yards to the end of the pier. It doesn't sound like a long way but when you are 350 lbs with two permanently arthritic knees, 2 feet can seem like a mile.

 

Dinojude, it depends entirely on how long is a long distance. And then you have to actually find a cab. When we were there 2 other ships were in port and it seemed like utter chaos. But then, my DH was walking slowly and we were trying to keep up with the group and in danger of losing them, so maybe it seemed worse than it was.

 

I'm going to attempt to attach a picture which I took at the halfway point looking back at the ship.